


The Fall

by Avid_Aviator



Series: Mixed Metaphors [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Depressed!Adrien, Depression, Gen, Recklessness, gabriel agreste is hawkmoth, slightly suicidal!Chat Noir
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2016-09-30
Packaged: 2018-08-18 18:31:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8171645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avid_Aviator/pseuds/Avid_Aviator
Summary: Adrien fell like an angel.





	

 

  
Adrien fell like an angel.  
Hurtling from the heavens gracelessly, he waited for the impact that must be coming. His descent began so long ago Adrien barely remembers how it felt to have solid ground beneath his feet. His wings like Icarus have long since melted away. He held himself aloft for as long as he could. Now he fell. Down. Down. Down.  
+  
+  
When he crashed into Ladybug, Adrien had thought perhaps she would be his saving grace. She could have been, only she couldn't see past his newest mask complete with costumes and superpowers. He didn't blame her. How could he? She was the last remaining candle in his ever darkening vision and not even her rejection could make him hate that. He loved her with every bit of heart he had left.  
Apparently it wasn't enough.  
But he tried. And in trying to love her the way she deserved he found a parachute. He was still falling....just slower.  
+  
+  
When he made real friends in school he thought maybe he would survive hitting the ground. So he had been falling for a long time and maybe rock bottom was in sight but he wasn't there yet. It was still a matter of when. Still a matter of which problem would anchor him the the ground. But now he had someone who would come looking. And maybe they'd find a way to set him free. Perhaps he could fly again.  
+  
+  
Chat was forever in trouble with his Lady. He only wanted to protect her but she called it suicidal. So maybe he took a lot of risks; but it paid off. She made it to the end of the fight and fixed everything. He couldn't fix himself, let alone the rest of Paris, so he took the hit. Let himself bleed for her. The bruises and broken bones and blood all disappeared with her miraculous presence anyway. And if Chat was too reckless and died... either she would fix it or she wouldn't and honestly both options were perfectly fine with him. On the one hand; he wasn't afraid to die...but he did have people to leave behind, for once.  
+  
+  
Nino was the best part of school and Alya had somehow worked her way into his heart as well. Marinette.....he liked Marinette but she couldn't see anything but the model of him that was plastered across Paris billboards and magazines. Rose was the single most kind person he had ever met. Juleka was really cool if you bothered to talk to her. (And Adrien really liked her hair. Maybe just because his father would never let him do something like that.) Ivan and he didn't particularly have much to talk about, but Adrien still liked him. Mylene was so sweet and Nathanael was creative and Max was scary smart and Kim was athletic and Alex was competitive and everyone was so different! Adrien loved them all. In the Modeling world there's a very small niche you have to fit into to even be a part of it. The entertainment industry had perpetuated such a narrow view of pretty and just because Adrien happened to match it his life was set here. Well, Adrien called foul play. All the lovely differences people showed were what made them beautiful. Not bone structure or height or weight or hair color- ok so maybe Adrien was a hopeless romantic in love with the world but he didn't care. He has always been falling: what's one more thing to fall for?  
+  
+  
Chat nearly died and Adrien finally hit the ground at almost the same time. Hawkmoth made one last vicious attack, catching Adrien across the chest; then the butterfly's miraculous ran out and Adrien slammed into the ground at his fathers feet. Ladybug came swinging to his rescue but it was too late. Chat Noir was bleeding from a stab wound and Adrien was cracking apart from the blow from his only remaining family. The police picked up Mr Agreste and Ladybug had no idea what was wrong with her partner but he was empty now. She didn't see the emotions pooled on the floor with his blood where they had leaked from his cracks.  
+  
+  
Chat Noir received preliminary care for his chest wound but couldn't even find a bandaid for his psyche. No one knew he needed one. Adrien couldn't bring himself pretend to be surprised hours later when the police told him that his father was a super villain. It didn't seem worth it anymore. Chat Noir wasn't needed without Hawkmoth so who cares if Paris knew who he used to be. Maybe with his friends help he could survive his fall but broken glass can never be the same again. And he had Shattered into so many pieces he couldn't even find them all.  
+  
+  
Suddenly Adrien was both pitied and hated and it felt like falling again even though there was nowhere to go but it was familiar so he didn't defend himself when little kids ran the opposite direction. Didn't feel anything but numb when Principal Democles asked him not to return to school. Didn't protest when he was told he had no control in his family's company until he was 21. He didn't do much of anything, really. He sat in his room. Talked to Plagg. Wrote poems. He didn't think he was particularly good at it but it was the only way to say some things. But like the poem for Ladybug, no one ever read them. They were written and promptly thrown away. (And like with the Ladybug poem someone was reading and he didn't know it.)  
+  
+  
After four days have been wasted alone in his room, his friends break into the mansion. Adrien doesn't bother asking how they did it because he doesn't care. They're here. They don't hate him.  
Maybe he can survive the fall.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I've been playing with the idea of a depressed Adrien for a while and I finally found the words I wanted to portray that. 
> 
> This is one of my first ML fics and I'm pretty excited about it. I typed it on my phone so I apologize for any glaring mistakes. 
> 
> Let me know what you think!


End file.
